the farmhouse. {two months in}.

These farmhouse restoration posts have been few and far between. Life just keeps getting in the way. 🙂 Yet, I thought it was time to write down some thoughts on where we are in this new season of life {as we prepare for even more change and fast approaching new seasons}.

So, let’s see. We’ve been in the farmhouse for exactly two months today. Theses past couple of months have been full. {Packing and moving and preparing for a new baby while starting a non-profit and fighting for justice for your daughter stuck on the other side of the world will fill up the hours in a day before you know it}.

Time. 

Our days are a beautiful mix of busy and slow. Busy days of running around {the downside of this move- I feel like I drive a LOT more now that we are no longer right in the heart of our little downtown area} and slow days of staying home and enjoying the extra space. Mornings spent savoring a hot cup of coffee and reading the Word with the boys. Shrieks of joy when the boys run out in the morning to find a warm egg {or two or three} waiting in the henhouse. Evenings spent outside enjoying the gorgeous glow of country sunsets {the sunsets out here are incredible} and slow evenings spent laughing and sharing dinner with a table full of friends.

I absolutely love it when this table is full…and it has been so many times over these past months. I wish I had photos but I was busy enjoying the moments and didn’t even pick up my camera.

The boys absolutely love it out here. If we are home, there is a 99% chance that they are outside playing. I am so grateful that they are using their imaginations and creating memories together outside. They aren’t stuck in front of a screen indoors. It really has been a breath of fresh air for our family.

Simplicity. 

One thing we had to do when we moved was simplify. ‘Organizing’ and ‘living with less’ are distinct and different tasks. I love THIS post about the powerful difference between organizing and decluttering.

We are in a smaller space now and we made this change deliberately. God has stirred our hearts over the past couple of years in new ways. We have been challenged and convicted about where our treasures lie. Truly, where we invest our time and our resources reflects the state of our heart. Our desire to live with intentionality and freedom from ‘things’ was the catalyst for our move to this home.

Now, please don’t read this and think that we have it all figured out. We don’t. We are fumbling our way through this life just like everyone else. We are simply making a concentrated effort to live in a way that honors the call to live with less in order to have more freedom to give. To give away money and resources and, most importantly, time. We don’t want to be so tied up in the trappings of this life that our time is wasted seeking anything less than God’s best for our little family.

Prayer. 

I have walked through this home many, many times praying for the Holy Spirit to fill this space. For our home to reflect His heart. For His love and peace to be alive within these walls. I’ve prayed over our children’s rooms and prayed my heart out in our daughters’ room, asking the Lord to fill both of their little beds. I’ve prayed scripture over each space in this home and I firmly believe that the serene joy we fill inside of these walls {for the most part – we do have two crazy, rambunctious boys} is credited to the prayers offered up to our Father.

If you’re in the process of moving or painting or restoring a home, I highly recommend spending a day in prayer in each room before you move into the space. Writing scripture on the walls and the floors and the doorways underneath the paint. This will be a precious time with God that you will never regret.

Our prayer for our S. Written above where her bed is now.

All in all, this move has been so very good for our family. We are incredibly grateful for the good things that we have been blessed with.

Now, don’t me wrong.  There is still so much that needs to be done. Sometimes the never-ending “to-do” list feels daunting. Poor Dave has a list a mile long of projects. And, we haven’t even started to tackle the outdoors. We have big plans for landscaping and outdoor space, yet, it is all a work in progress. We know that it can’t all be done right now and we are constantly seeking to find beauty in the process. My nesting instincts are making that extremely hard to do but I really am trying {Dave may disagree}.

More restoration photos to come soon. 🙂